scholarly journals DBSCAN and GIE, Two Density-Based “Grid-Free” Methods for Finding Areas of Endemism: A Case Study of Flea Beetles (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) in the Afrotropical Region

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1115
Author(s):  
Maurizio Biondi ◽  
Paola D’Alessandro ◽  
Walter De Simone ◽  
Mattia Iannella
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Kernel Density ◽  
The Core ◽  
Afrotropical Region ◽  
Areas Of Endemism ◽  
Gis Environment ◽  
First Time ◽  
Geographical Locations

Areas of endemism (AoEs) are a central area of research in biogeography. Different methods have been proposed for their identification in the literature. In this paper, a “grid-free” method based on the “Density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise” (DBSCAN) is here used for the first time to locate areas of endemism for species belonging to the beetle tribe Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini in the Afrotropical Region. The DBSCAN is compared with the “Geographic Interpolation of Endemism” (GIE), another “grid-free” method based on a kernel density approach. DBSCAN and GIE both return largely overlapping results, detecting the same geographical locations for the AoEs, but with different delimitations, surfaces, and number of detected sinendemisms. The consensus maps obtained by GIE are in general less clearly delimited than the maps obtained by DBSCAN, but nevertheless allow us to evaluate the core of the AoEs more precisely, representing of the percentage levels of the overlap of the centroids. DBSCAN, on the other hand, appears to be faster and more sensitive in identifying the AoEs. To facilitate implementing the delimitation of the AoEs through the procedure proposed by us, a new tool named “CLUENDA” (specifically developed is in GIS environment) is also made available.

Iranian Bilateral Investment Treaties: Substantive Principles and Standards

2013 ◽  
pp. 397-433
Author(s):  
Ardeshir Atai
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Bilateral Investment Treaties ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Investment Treaties ◽  
Principles And Standards ◽  
First Time

There are more than 3000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in force. BITs are designed to facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) and developing countries negotiate them as a strategy to attract FDI. BITs contain common denominators of free admission, fair treatment, non-expropriation and dispute resolution procedure which are the core components of an investment friendly regime. This article makes a proposition that even if a location does not have an ideal FDI legal system in conformity with the Perry-Kessaris Paradigm, it may still be attractive for foreign investment if there are BITs containing the substantive investment protection standards. The author refers to Iran as a case study which has signed more than 50 BITs with capital exporting and neighbouring countries to promote capital flows. Iran is a resource-rich country and its economy depends on foreign exchange revenues from petroleum exports. Therefore to attract FDI flows in the energy sector it should develop a legal framework that is investor friendly. BITs contain the blueprint for reforming FDI legal system to develop an investment friendly regime. This article for the first time provides a comprehensive review of Iranian BITs.

scholarly journals English learners’ voices on integrating poetry through a transactional approach in an EFL classroom

2018 ◽  
pp. 355
Author(s):  
Luis Fernando Gómez Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
The Core ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
First Time ◽  
Transactional Approach

This case study examined how a group of EFL learners at a University in Colombia were encouraged to read and discuss several American poems for the first time in their lives through the reading transactional approach. Participants’ reading experience and critical reactions to poetry constituted the core data that were collected through field notes, learners’ artifacts (written essays), and one questionnaire. Data were analyzed through grounded approach and content analysis. Findings revealed that learners first focused on vocabulary and language structures and then on meaning. This research concluded that the incorporation of poetry as content in EFL education can help learners improve their communicative competence and critical reading skills.

Islamic and Jewish Religious Feminists Tackle Islamic and Jewish Oral Law: Maintenance and Rebellion of Wives

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-63
Author(s):  
Ruth Roded
Keyword(s):  
State Policy ◽  
Political System ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Parallel Case ◽  
First Time

Beginning in the early 1970s, Jewish and Muslim feminists, tackled “oral law”—Mishna and Talmud, in Judaism, and the parallel Hadith and Fiqh in Islam, and several analogous methodologies were devised. A parallel case study of maintenance and rebellion of wives —mezonoteha, moredet al ba?ala; nafaqa al-mar?a and nush?z—in classical Jewish and Islamic oral law demonstrates similarities in content and discourse. Differences between the two, however, were found in the application of oral law to daily life, as reflected in “responsa”—piskei halacha and fatwas. In modern times, as the state became more involved in regulating maintenance and disobedience, and Jewish law was backed for the first time in history by a state, state policy and implementation were influenced by the political system and socioeconomic circumstances of the country. Despite their similar origin in oral law, maintenance and rebellion have divergent relevance to modern Jews and Muslims.

Possessing the Iconic Book

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 309-329
Author(s):  
Claudia V. Camp
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Ben Sira ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iconic Status ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Woman Wisdom ◽  
Martin Marty

I propose that the notion of possession adds an important ideological nuance to the analyses of iconic books set forth by Martin Marty (1980) and, more recently, by James Watts (2006). Using the early second century BCE book of Sirach as a case study, I tease out some of the symbolic dynamics through which the Bible achieved iconic status in the first place, that is, the conditions in which significance was attached to its material, finite shape. For Ben Sira, this symbolism was deeply tied to his honor-shame ethos in which women posed a threat to the honor of his eternal name, a threat resolved through his possession of Torah figured as the Woman Wisdom. What my analysis suggests is that the conflicted perceptions of gender in Ben Sira’s text is fundamental to his appropriation of, and attempt to produce, authoritative religious literature, and thus essential for understanding his relationship to this emerging canon. Torah, conceived as female, was the core of this canon, but Ben Sira adds his own literary production to this female “body” (or feminized corpus, if you will), becoming the voice of both through the experience of perfect possession.

New records of Afrotropical Tersilochinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-276
Author(s):  
A.I. Khalaim
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
New Records ◽  
Cote D’Ivoire ◽  
Côte D'ivoire ◽  
Afrotropical Region ◽  
First Time

A new data on distribution of 19 species of Tersilochinae (Ichneumonidae) belonging to the genera Allophrys Förster (four species), Aneuclis Förster (five spp.), Diaparsis Förster (eight spp.) and Tersilochus Holmgren (two spp.) in the Afrotropical Region are provided. Tersilochus abyssinicus Khalaim, 2006, syn. nov. is synonymised with T. moestus Holmgren, 1868. The subfamily Tersilochinae is recorded from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Zambia and Yemen for the first time.

Discovery of Systenus in the Afrotropical Region with a description of a new species (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
I.Ya. Grichanov ◽  
M.B. Mostovski
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
Afrotropical Region ◽  
Species Groups ◽  
First Time ◽  
A New Species

The genus Systenus Loew, 1857 is recorded from Afrotropical Region for the first time. A description of a new species, Systenus africanus Grichanov sp. nov., and notes on females of another probably new Afrotropical species are provided. The genus is considered now as cosmopolitan. A key to species and species groups of the Systenus worldwide is compiled.

scholarly journals The Influence of Increased Salvage Felling on Forwarding Distance and the Removal—A Case Study from Croatia

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Andreja Đuka ◽  
Zoran Bumber ◽  
Tomislav Poršinsky ◽  
Ivica Papa ◽  
Tibor Pentek
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Management Unit ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Forest Operations ◽  
Spatial Reference ◽  
Infrastructure Network ◽  
Gis Environment ◽  
Research Period

During the seven-year research period, the average annual removal was by 3274 m3 higher than the average annual removal prescribed by the existing management plan (MP). The main reason lies in the high amount of salvage felling volume at 55,238 m3 (38.3%) in both the main and the intermediate felling due to oak dieback. The analysis of forest accessibility took into account the spatial distribution of cutblocks (with ongoing felling operations) and the volume of felled timber for two proposed factors: (1) the position of the cutblock and (2) the position of the removal. Cutblock position factor took into account the spatial position of the felling areas/sites, while removal position factor besides the spatial reference took into account the amount of felled timber (i.e., volume) both concerning forest infrastructure network and forest operations. The analysed relative forest openness by using geo-processing workflows in GIS environment showed four types of opening areas in the studied management unit (MU): single-opened, multiple-opened, unopened and opened areas outside of the management unit. Negative effects of the piece-volume law and low harvesting densities on forest operations are highlighted in this research due to high amount of salvage felling particularly in the intermediate felling by replacing timber volume that should have come from thinnings.

scholarly journals Re-defining gender as a heinous crime: A case study from the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies

2020 ◽  
pp. 095792652097721
Author(s):  
Janaina Negreiros Persson
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Public Hearing ◽  
Rhetorical Invention ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Core

In this article, we explore how the discourses around gender are evolving at the core of Brazilian politics. Our focus lies on the discourses at the public hearing on the bill 3.492/19, which aimed at including “gender ideology” on the list of heinous crimes. We aim to identify the deputies’ linguistic representation of social actors as pertaining to in- and outgroups. In addition, the article analyzes through Critical Discourse Analysis how the terminology gender is represented in this particular hearing. The analysis shows how some of the conservative parliamentarians give a clearly negative meaning to the term gender, by labeling it “gender ideology” and additionally connecting it with heinous crimes. We propose that the re-signification of “gender ideology,” from rhetorical invention to heinous crime, is not only an attempt to undermine scientific gender studies but also a way for conservative deputies to gain more political power.

scholarly journals A clarified typology of core-periphery structure in networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. eabc9800
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Gallagher ◽  
Jean-Gabriel Young ◽  
Brooke Foucault Welles
Keyword(s):  
Dense Core ◽  
Block Model ◽  
Hub And Spoke ◽  
Block Modeling ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
The Core ◽  
Detailed Case ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
Modeling Techniques

Core-periphery structure, the arrangement of a network into a dense core and sparse periphery, is a versatile descriptor of various social, biological, and technological networks. In practice, different core-periphery algorithms are often applied interchangeably despite the fact that they can yield inconsistent descriptions of core-periphery structure. For example, two of the most widely used algorithms, the k-cores decomposition and the classic two-block model of Borgatti and Everett, extract fundamentally different structures: The latter partitions a network into a binary hub-and-spoke layout, while the former divides it into a layered hierarchy. We introduce a core-periphery typology to clarify these differences, along with Bayesian stochastic block modeling techniques to classify networks in accordance with this typology. Empirically, we find a rich diversity of core-periphery structure among networks. Through a detailed case study, we demonstrate the importance of acknowledging this diversity and situating networks within the core-periphery typology when conducting domain-specific analyses.

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